Dance With Me - A PewDieCry Fanfiction
by CaitPotate
Summary: Felix Kjellburg and Ryan Terry come from totally different worlds. Felix works as an underpaid, overworked cashier at OfficeMax, while Ryan is a privileged sales manager at CHG Healthcare. When such different worlds and lifestyles collide is love or even compatibility at all possible?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note**_

_Heya bros! This is a little story I wrote for my friend _September_! The context of its creation is that it's 2am and I can't (don't want to) sleep so she told me to write her a story that involves rain and my OTP, and this is what I came up with! The theme/reference to rain isn't __**that**__ apparent in this chapter, but it will in further instalments. I have this shit planned._

_September; I thought really hard about who my OTP is, and it isn't Dean and Castiel anymore BECAUSE I'm honestly getting fed up with the show. It went weird after season 5 I think. Like come on, they're getting rid of Cas and Misha is going to play God? And they're progressively cutting out all the awesome, unique humour that made me love the show in the first place! Ugh they're ruining everything make it stop!_

_Anyway, I'm getting off track. I've decided my OTP is (obviously) PewDieCry. I don't ship them in real life (I love Marzia and Felix way too much) but I love the way they act together in videos, and also how people make their characters interact in fanfictions._

_For those of you waiting for Graveside or APF, don't worry they're coming! I was getting writer's block, and this really helped me get my head back on straight. _

_Also, if anyone is good with titles I want to name APF but __**I can't think of anything because I am so bad at titles it's not even funny.**__ Ugh. So if you have any suggestions please tell me via PM or in the comments of APF. I was thinking maybe "Gold and Silver" because of the two schools and how they may or may not be significant soon? I don't know._

_**Anywho**__, I hope you guys enjoy this story. Let me know if you want more if you don't want me leaving it for a while after this chapter. If not many people are interested then I'll concentrate just on APF and Graveside. I think I can juggle three if I have to though; I'll just make a schedule or something to be more organised. Anyway, I love you, enjoy! Bye baiiii! (Sorry this A/N was so long)_

**Dance With Me – A PewDieCry Fanfiction**

**Chapter One**

**Pewdie's POV**

I gazed absently out of the taxi window at the street lights and houses flashing by. It was almost 11pm, I'd just finished work and I was dead tired. I didn't see why _I_ had to be the one to stay late and do stocktake, Dave started after me and they let him go _early!_ The taxi driver shot me a weird look as I grumbled to myself. It was bullshit, I wanted so badly to quit my stupid job, but I couldn't afford to be out of work for more than a few days. Last week I applied at an electricity company for a desk job, but I still hadn't heard back. I didn't think I ever would.

I sighed irritably as the driver pulled up in front of my house. I got out of the car, paid my fair – trying my best to be friendly – and turned to look at my house. It was an alright place, I supposed, considering how cheap the rent was. It was a simple, red brick house with a little redwood porch leading up to the front door. The garden was in desperate need of some love but I hadn't been able to find the time lately.

I skipped up the porch steps and clumsily found my front door key with the aid of my phone's flashlight. I jiggled the key in the sticky lock and, when it still wouldn't open, slammed my shoulder against the door. I practically fell into the house. With some difficulty I closed the front door – I really needed to get it refitted in the frame – and wandered into the kitchen for a very late dinner.

All that was in the fridge was a carton of milk, some lettuce, an almost-empty carton of eggs and a couple of boxes of Chinese food. Sighing dramatically at the lack of food I grabbed a box of noodles and stuck them in the microwave to heat up. I set my electric kettle to boil and stared off into the distance as I waited for everything to be ready. My noodles were done first, I took them out of the microwave, stirred it a bit with a fork and stuck them back in for a bit longer. Frustration hit me again when I went to get a teabag but found I was all out. I grudgingly went to the pantry to find some cocoa; I'd really been looking forward to a nice cup of tea before bed. The delicious smell of chocolate wafted through the room as I made my cocoa and I decided that it was just as good as tea. Too bad I didn't have any marshmallows to put in it though. Grabbing my noodles on my way past I went into the little living room and turned on the TV.

I sat down on my amazingly comfortable recliner chair – it actually used to be part of a couch – and put my feet up to watch telly as I ate. The noodles weren't too bad reheated. I had a sip of cocoa and immediately decided that Sambal Chicken and chocolate were too flavours that were never meant to combine. I ate about half of what was left of the noodles, set the container next to the mug on the fold-out table I was using instead of an actual coffee table, and pushed the recliner back all the way. I'd just sit here for a few minutes before I head of to bed. Just a… few… minutes…

…

…

I woke up to golden light and someone knocking loudly on my front door. I looked around groggily and realised I must have fallen asleep in the living room. I turned the TV off and heaved myself out of the chair to go answer the door. It was Dave. I glared at him blearily, rubbing sleep out of my eyes.

"Wow, you look like shit man." He said in a slightly too cheerful tone. "Come on, we're going to be late for work." I sighed and told him to hold on a moment while I got my shoes. I stopped by the mirror in the front hall and tried to rearrange my hair and smooth out my clothes so I looked a little bit presentable before dashing outside to Dave's car.

"I guess asking you how you're doing this morning would pretty pointless." He joked as I put on my seatbelt and he pulled out of the driveway.

"Very funny." I muttered, self-consciously running my fingers through my hair. "I didn't knock off until late last night." I yawned expansively as I said the last two words, and Dave peered at me from the corner of his eye.

"You need to put your foot down with Calen, man." He stated objectively. "Otherwise he's just going to keep walking all over you."

"Yeah… thanks, bro." I replied bluntly. As if it was that easy. Calen hated me, if I said a word against him he'd fire me on the spot.

Dave's car jolted to a stop and he killed the engine in the OfficeMax car park. I looked out the window at the huge, black letters spitefully and got out of the car, all but slamming the door behind me. The sky was overcast and the air was cold, and I couldn't help but equate the poor weather to my mood. As I followed Dave into the large building I realised I wasn't wearing my nametag. I swore under my breath; _I must have taken it off it last night_, I thought. _Calen is gonna have my head for this._ I sighed, deciding there was nothing I could do about it now, and picked up my pace to catch up to Dave.

…

…

The harsh florescent lights beamed down on me as I stood dumbly at the counter. I was staring dejectedly at a spot on the counter, pondering whether I could be bothered to scrub it off or not. Deciding it was above my pay grade I glanced down at my watch hopefully. That hope was shattered and pressed into tired despondence when I noted I still had another three hours to work. To take my mind off my shitty job I turned my attention inward and daydreamed about playing games I'd never be able to afford.

I was snapped out of my fantasy when someone cleared their throat in front of me. I jumped a little in fright and hastily apologised to the customer standing across the counter, and he smiled and brushed it off.

"Don't worry about it." He said cheerfully. Nerves suddenly hit me and my stomach was attacked by butterflies as he smiled. He had neat, brown hair and had thick rimmed black glasses on. He was wearing a crisp white shirt, a black tie and suit pants. I gave him an uneasy smile back, all my social abilities going straight out the window. The man patted one of three boxes packed into a trolley beside him, and I jumped again as I was spurred into action.

"S-sorry, again." I stammered. "My head's all over the place today."

"It's alright, friend." He chuckled. "It happens to everyone." His laugh put a huge grin on my face that I couldn't seem to smother. I felt like an idiot. I scanned and bagged all the smaller items he'd bought and then peered at the larger boxes. I typed two of them into my computer to put them through, but I couldn't see the third properly.

"Uh, could you lift up that last one?" I asked, my cheeks turning pink. "I can't see what it is."

"Oh, sure!" He replied, looking as if I'd startled him out of his thoughts, much like he'd startled me. He lifted a corner of the box up so I could see what it said and I typed it into the computer, thanking him as I did so. He merely nodded in reply.

"Alright, so that comes to 1,042.50." I said in my best customer service tone. The man flashed me a broad grin and handed me a CHG Healthcare company card. I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as I took the card from him and swiped it through the card reader.

"Just on credit?" I asked, looking up at the man through my eyelashes. He nodded and I punched the button and handed him the machine. He put in the PIN code and handed it back to me and we kind of just stood in this weird, awkward limbo while the transaction processed. Just as the receipt started to print out, Calen appeared smiling his 'customer smile' – which I always thought looked more like a freakish, wrinkled skeleton – and asked the man I was serving if he needed help taking his purchases to his car. The man nodded and flashed another broad grin at me.

"Yeah, I'd love some help." He said cheerily. Calen glanced at me and gestured to the trolley.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Felix? Go." He said in a painfully happy tone. I suppressed a frustrated sigh – god he was a poonce – and went around the counter to take the trolley. The man picked up the bags from the counter and led me out of the store.

In my efforts to manoeuvre the unruly trolley through the automatic doors I didn't realise the guy had stopped until I was practically running him down. The trolley bumped into him a little less than softly and he turned around with a surprised look on his face. A small smile appeared on his face as we made eye contact and he gestured towards the car park behind him.

"It's raining!" He said, a huge grin plastered on his face.

**Cry's POV**

"Printer thingy, printer ink thingies, new pens, sticky note pads, a new monitor, a headset thingy for Clara, Jared wanted some highlighters..." I mumbled to myself, cramming the last of my lunch into my mouth as I powerwalked towards the doors of OfficeMax. I was on my lunch break and my co-workers and boss had given me a list of supplies they needed from the story and naturally I'd left it behind on my desk. I scolded myself for being so disorganised and practically ran through the doors and further into the store. I bit my upper lip agitatedly, where the heck was the pens and stuff? I spotted a large sign on the far side of the store that read 'Stationery' and walked as fast as I could without looking weird across the polished floor.

I jumped violently when I walked past a fan and it blew my tie up into my face. My face contorted with surprise and outrage and I swiped it off my face as quickly as possible, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. No one seemed to be looking my way. I heaved a sigh of relief and kept walking, keeping a sharp eye out for fans.

I reached the stationery section without further incident. The shelves stretched well above my head and all were lined with various pens, pencils and notepads. I scanned the myriad supplies closely until I found the brand of pens I was _sure_ we used around the office. I pouted at the little packet for a moment before piling a couple more packs into my arms. I wandered around the store, piling things up in my hands until I was eventually forced to get a trolley.

Once I was sure I had all the small things I needed I wheeled my trolley over to the electronics section to talk to one of the salespeople about my boss's printer order. I approached a pretty woman at a service desk and rather awkwardly recited my order.

"Uh, hello. I've got an order for a big multipurpose printer thing." I said, making cube gestures for emphasis. "I can't remember what it's called. It should be under… crap what was it…" I trailed off for a moment tapping my chin thoughtfully. "Uhh, CHG Sales I think." The girl looked me up and down and typed something into her computer.

"CHG… Okay, I've got it. I'll call someone up to get it out of storage for you." She said. I nodded a thank you and she spoke into the phone on her desk, sending a message through the loud speakers of the store for someone called Dave. She looked me up and down again once she'd made the announcement, leaning somewhat provocatively on the counter.

"You know, you should probably get a bit better at your job if you want a promotion." She said bluntly. I frowned and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"E-excuse me?" I stammered.

"You're an intern, right? If you can't even remember the names of orders then you're not going to get promoted." She flipped her hair and stared at me intently, making me uncomfortable.

"Uh, I'm not an intern." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I'm actually Sales Manager at CHG. I… don't normally do this sort of stuff."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, looking quite surprised. "Why are running errands then? Don't you have, like, little lackeys or whatever?" I winced slightly and bit my lip.

"No… I figured I'd just help out, you know." I said, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. "I'm at lunch so…" The girl nodded and gave me another ogle as a man who must have been Dave approached.

"What do you need, Cindy?" He asked the girl at the counter. She wrote the order down on a little piece of paper in flowing script and handed it to Dave. He nodded, grinned at me, and strode off towards a set of plastic swing doors.

I tried not to make eye contact with Cindy while I waited for Dave. She kind of creeped me out. Once he came back he helped me load the printer onto my trolley. He grinned at me broadly and I gave him a weirded-out sort of smile back.

"Uh, could you help me with a couple of other things?" I asked before he had the chance to walk away.

"Of course, sir." He chirped. "How may I help you?"

"I need a 22 inch computer monitor and a headset for office phones." I replied. Dave nodded knowingly and led me further into the electronics department.

…

…

I practically ran for the register once Dave had finally given me the headset and monitor I needed. The man had tried to take me off on so many random tangents it wasn't even funny.

The guy at the register looked like he was off in fairy land when I approached with my trolley. I dug out all of the bits and pieces that could be bagged and laid them out on the counter. I couldn't help but smile when I realised that the cashier was still staring off into the distance when I was done. I gazed at him for a few moments, taking in his golden brown hair, blue eyes and lean form, before clearing my throat to get his attention. He snapped out of his stupor with a little jolt and met my eyes with a bewildered stare. Like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh, s-sorry." He stammered, making me grin.

"Don't worry about it." I said, my frustration at dealing with Dave evaporating. He didn't move for a moment, he just gazed at me with a funny expression on his face; it was almost a smile, but not quite. I patted one of the boxes in my trolley and he jumped back into action again.

"S-sorry, again. My head's all over the place today." He said shakily.

"It's alright, friend." I chuckled. "It happens to everyone." He started scanning my stuff through and I zoned out a bit, staring at a spot in the distance and thinking about all the shit I had to do when I got back to work. After a while my thoughts turned to the cashier. He wasn't wearing a nametag so I had no idea what to call him… After a bit of internal debate I decided to call him Bluey because of how intensely blue his eyes were. Original, I know.

"Uh, could you lift up that last one?" Bluey suddenly asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "I can't see what it is." I looked over at him with a startled expression on my face.

"Oh, sure!" I replied hastily, lifting what I hoped was the right box so he could see the label. He thanked me and I nodded in response, not quite trusting myself to speak. Bluey turned his attention back to his computer to finish my transaction and I just stood there, gazing at him thoughtfully. He was a good looking guy, I had to say; though he did seem a little run down. His hair was dark blonde and shaggy, and there was a stray lock curling at a weird angle on the back of his head. He was a kind of pale, but it looked good on him, and he had light stubble covering his jaw. His eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue I'd ever seen, and they were shaded by long, light brown lashes.

"Alright, so that comes to 1,042.50." He said, looking up at me expectantly. Whew, I was glad this wasn't coming out of my pay. I retrieved my company credit card from my wallet and handed it over. He made a weird face when he read CHG on the front, though he didn't say anything. I thought he might have just been surprised or something…

"Just on credit?" He asked somewhat shyly, looking up at me through his eyelashes. They glinted in the harsh florescent light, giving his eyes a kind of gold sheen. I nodded and he pressed a button and handed me the card reader. I keyed in the PIN and we fell into an uncomfortable silence while it processed. As the receipt was printing, another employee approached, this one wearing a yellow shirt instead of black. I assumed he was a manager of some kind. He flashed me a creepily happy smile and asked me if I needed an help taking my things to my car. I glanced at Bluey, a grin of my own forming.

"Yeah, I'd love some help." I said.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Felix? Go." The manager said in a rather rude, forced tone. _So that's his name, _I thought, intrigued by the blue eyed cashier. Felix came out from behind the counter to take my trolley as I slipped my company card back into my wallet and picked up the two plastic bags from the counter. I flashed him a smile and turned to leave the store.

I was kind of sad to be leaving… which was stupid. It was OfficeMax. I just felt as though, if I left now, I'd never see Felix again. The thought brought a small frown to my face as I was hit with that little bout of depression you get when you see an attractive person in public and you just know you'll never ever see them again. As I reached the edge of the sheltered area of the building's entrance I realised the ground ahead was wet. I looked up to see that it was pouring down rain. _How did I not notice the noise? _I wondered absently as I stared at the drops pelting down from the sky. I loved the rain; I thought it was beautiful.

I was pulled out of my absent daydreaming when the trolley suddenly hit me in the behind. I turned around to see Felix standing behind it with an immensely embarrassed expression. I gave him a little smile as our eyes met so he'd know I was okay, and then gestured towards the wet car park.

"It's raining." I observed pointlessly, my little smile turning in a full blown grin.

"Why is that so fantastic?" Felix asked, looking up the dark clouds with apprehension. "We're going to get soaked."

"So?" I asked, laughing for no good reason. "I love the rain." Felix looked at me incredulously, though he did look amused. "Come on!" I said, hunching up my shoulders to defend against the cold drops of water. "We'll just have to fast." With that I took off across the car park, bags and tie flying around wildly, towards my car. I got my keys out of my pocket as I ran and tried to click the button to unlock it, but my fingers slipped and I somehow managed to fling the whole key ring into my own face. I screwed my face up on impact, and so I didn't see where the keys went after that. I peered at the wet ground, the droplets gathering on my glasses making it really hard to see properly. I heard the trolley rattling behind me as Felix approached. He parked it under one of the concrete overhangs lining the areas between rows and walked over to me, sticking his hands in his armpits and hunching his shoulders a little.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Where's your car?"

"I dropped my keys." I pouted, bending low towards the ground in an attempt to see. Felix joined me in my search and a minute later he produced my keys a few feet away. I took them from him, thanking him as I carefully pressed the unlock button, and started walking towards my car. Felix went to fetch the trolley and we met next to my Mercedes. I think I would have felt really pretentious standing with Felix next to my flashy car if we weren't both soaking wet.

After dumping the bags in the back seat I took of my glasses and shook some of the excess water out of my hair. Felix was just kind of standing there, awkwardly waiting to see if I still needed his help. Suddenly feeling guilty for holding him up out here in the cold I gestured towards the trolley.

"Can you help me get the printer into the car?" I asked. He nodded and we heaved the heavy piece of technology into the back seat. I piled the monitor and headset in and closed the car door. "Uh, thank you." I stammered, not really knowing what to do now. I didn't really want to say goodbye because I didn't like the prospect of never seeing him again.

"No worries, bro." Felix said. He turned to go back to the store and I couldn't stop myself from yelling out to stop him.

"Hold on a sec!" I called, practically wrenching open the passenger door and console. I dug around for a few moments before I got my hands on some paper and a pen. I tore of a smallish rectangle and wrote down my phone number. It was a longshot that he'd even be interested – I didn't know if he was… into that – but I figured you don't get anywhere in life if you don't take chances. I wrote my name in the top corner of the piece of paper and got back out of the car. Felix was just standing there, watching me in the rain. I grinned at him and skipped over to him.

"Here." I said and handed him the slip of paper. "Call me or something… Bye." Without giving him too much of a chance to reply I turned on my heel and practically ran back to the car to jump into the driver's seat. I started the car up and pulled out of the park. I passed Felix as I drove away. He was still standing there, staring after me with his mouth hanging open a little. Nerves and regret hit me all at once as he turned and ran back into the store. The logical part of my brain was telling me that he was running to get out of the rain and the cold, but the my emotional side was freaking the fuck out. _He wasn't running away from you, Ryan. _I told myself firmly. _Stop being so stupid! Even if he's not interested you're never going to see him again so there's no real problem here. We can just never go back to that OfficeMax ever._

I sighed tiredly and tried to push the negative thoughts from my mind, grudgingly driving back to the office.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer**_

_Okay, I just want to clarify that all the YouTubers that make appearances in this (or any) of my fanfictions are not based on the real people and I do not own any of them (lol). If any of said YouTubers happen upon any of my fanfictions, I apologise if they dislike the way I have portrayed them. However, this is an entirely fictional story. Every element of my fanfictions are 100% fictional, and I never have (and never will) claim that my characters reflect their real life counterparts, nor are their pasts or current lives reflective of what the real people have gone through in any way. I apologise if I cause offence to any of you; I think you deserve the utmost respect for what you do. I admire all of you greatly, and I'll forever be grateful for all the difficult times you've gotten me through with you YouTube videos. There is no reason, however, to take offense to my writing, as the characters are generally so different to their real life counterparts that you can barely say they're based on you._

_Thank you_

_~ Caitlin Marie_

_**Author's Note**_

_I really didn't think I'd have to include my disclaimer in this fic, but apparently I do. Let me explain a little further; the characters in my fanfictions are just that. Characters! :) To me they aren't meant to be embodiments of their real life counterparts in any way. They are my own creations and I put a lot of thought and effort into creating unique and believable characters that people can relate to and enjoy. For example, in this story Pewds works at OfficeMax and Cry is a sales manager at CHG Healthcare. Come on, can any of you seriously imagine either of them working those jobs? I can't :p but that's the point. In every fanfiction that I've fallen in love with, the characters aren't rigidly based on the real Cry and Pewds. Honestly some of the ones that are kind of weird me out (no offense my lovelies – I get weirded out pretty easily). What I think makes PewDieCry fanfictions great is that people do whatever they want with the characters and often create whole new people and personalities that people can identify with. A lot of them have a rather weak link with the real people if you look closely The Cry in APF for example is based more on myself than Cry: I suffer from anxiety and I often hide behind makeup and fashion, I have IED (an anger disorder) and I'm highly defensive of myself and it's hard for people to get at my past. I want to open up but I've been hurt doing so before. Both Cry and Pewds in Graveside are based off how I would react in that situation – and I've been in a similar situation, I lost my little brother three years ago. In this story Pewds reflects where I'm at right now and how I'm struggling, and Cry represents both where I want to be and how I am in the everyday (I'm the clumsiest, most awkward person ever. The keys thing legit happened to me not long ago. It hurt my face.). _

_So yeah. I didn't want this A/N to be so long, but I just needed to make sure that none of you think I'm deliberately being disrespectful. Let's face it, neither Pewds nor Cry are ever going to read any of my fics BUT if they did I'm sure they'd understand what I'm talking about up there^ because they're both very chill and understanding people. I hope this cleared up my reasons for using his name, __Constant Variations, and also why I won't change it :)_

_Thanks to whoever took the time to read this – I promise there won't be any more long A/Ns if I can help it :) I love you all very much. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Two**

**Cry's POV**

It was raining more heavily than ever when I got to CHG. I pulled into my reserve parking spot – god it felt good having one of those – and got out of the car. I stood in the rain and stared at the backseat for a few moments. _How am I going to get all this inside without ruining it in the rain? _I asked myself.

"Hey, Cry!" A voice called from across the car park. I looked around to see Ken waving and walking towards me.

"Hey, Ken." I said, giving him a quick wave back.

"I'm guessing you've got the printer?" He asked. He peered into the back window of my car and whistled when he was how big it was. "How are you going to get _that_ beast inside?" I shrugged and thought about it for a bit.

"Wanna help?" I asked, half joking and half hopeful. Ken grinned at me and cracked his knuckles.

"Sure thing, let's do this" He said eagerly. I laughed at his enthusiasm and went around the car to push the heavy box over to him from the other side.

"Do you think the cardboard's strong enough to survive the rain?" Ken asked as I climbed into the car.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." I said uncertainly. I scratched at the surface of the cardboard. "It seems pretty tough." I almost slipped on my wet knees as I heaved the box out of the car. Ken grunted with effort as the greater portion of weight was transferred into his hands from the car, and I bolted back around to help him lift it. On three we lifted it out of the car and started to hobble towards the building. I kicked the car door closed with my foot and we moved as quickly as possible, the rain making the journey treacherously slippery. I lost my balance and almost fell over when we reached the curb, my heel sliding on the slick cement, but I managed to keep myself upright. Ken laughed at my clumsiness and I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh even harder.

We paused outside the glass swing doors to the building, rain drumming on our shoulders and heads. Ken and I glanced at each other with concerned expressions; the doors needed to be pulled open and it didn't look like anyone could see us from inside.

"I got this." I said determinedly, shuffling around so my back was to the door. I stuck my tongue out in concentration and craned my neck to see behind me as I tried to loop my foot through the door handle and pull it open. Ken started laughing at me again as I hopped around on one foot, struggling to keep my balance and not to drop the printer. I cried out in triumph as I got a grip of the handle and Ken shuffled back to let me hop forward, pulling the door open behind me. I had it open about halfway when I felt my balance going. I pulled a frightened face and clumsily freed my foot from the handle while simultaneously trying to keep the door open with my butt. I grinned in triumph when the door didn't close.

"Success!" I exclaimed happily. Ken was practically in hysterics, struggling to hold onto the box when he was bent over almost double. His laugh was contagious and by time we'd shuffled into the lobby we were both cracking up. We set the printer down in front of reception and I asked the girl sitting behind the desk if she could call my assistant down with a moving trolley. She did as I asked with an exaggerated smile. I took my glasses off and went to dry them on my shirt when Ken suddenly started laughing again. As I glanced up at him I realised how pointless drying my glasses on myself was. I closed my eyes for a moment to suppress the embarrassment and told Ken to shut up. He pressed his lips together in a quivering half-smile and quietened his laughter, though his reddening cheeks made me think he wouldn't be able to keep in under control for long. I rolled my eyes at him just as the elevator dinged and my assistant, Michelle stepped out with the trolley I'd asked for. She pulled an extremely concentrated face as she struggled to manoeuvre the tall trolley out through the elevator doors. Ignoring Ken's new fit of laughter I jogged over to help her.

"Thanks, Michelle." I said gratefully. She clucked her tongue and gave me an irritated look.

"I thought I told you to call me Minx." She scolded. I snickered and her irritation appeared to turn into actual annoyance.

"I'm sorry, _Minx_." I said, putting extra emphasis on the nickname. "It's just not the most appropriate nickname for work." Minx shrugged and flipped her purple fringe out of her face.

"Neither's my hair, but no one's pulled me up on it yet." I shook my head and took the trolley from Minx to wheel it over to Ken.

"Why are you guys all wet, anyway?" She asked, skipping along behind me. I heard her giggle at herself and rolled my eyes again. Ken nodded towards the doors.

"We carried the printer in from Cry's car." He said. My face dropped into a vexed glare as Minx spoke up again.

"I thought nicknames were unprofessional, _Cry._" She teased in an impossibly innocent tone. Ken gave me an apologetic shrug and I swept past him towards the door, mumbling that I still had some stuff in the car. Minx followed me, claiming that she'd help, but I put my hand up to stop her.

"It's still pouring down rain out there. There's no point in you getting soaked when I am already." I said, much to her disappointment.

"Do you want me to come and help?" Ken asked, but I shook my head.

"'S all good, friend, I've got it. Wait for me here, will you Mich- I mean Minx." Without waiting for them to protest I left the office building and strode towards my car.

The rain felt nice on my shoulders and neck; I'd always liked the feeling of water trickling over my skin. I heaped the other two boxes and bags in my arms and quickly made my way back inside. I shook the water from my hair as the doors swung closed behind me, and Minx scurried forward to help me load the boxes onto the trolley. Ken had loaded the printer on before he headed upstairs so it wasn't long before Minx and I were in the elevator, zipping towards the seventh floor.

The bell rang and the doors opened onto the expansive, shared office area. Standardised, six by six cubicles created a huge grid in the centre with four cubicles in a little square with pathways in between each square. Employees sat at almost every desk. Those that weren't sitting were chatting with their co-workers, busting around between cubicles, running things to one another, using the copier or fax machines. It was chaos. It was _my_ chaos.

Quite a few people shot Minx and I disinterested looks as we hurried through the huge room with the trolley. As we approached a trio of saleswomen standing by the broken printer – I was pretty sure it was the broken one – Minx somehow noticed I was getting a little nervous.

"Be cool." She hissed. "You're their boss now; you have to at least _look_ like you're competent." Some of my anxiety was replaced by annoyance and I gave Minx a dirty look. I paused in front of the trio and cleared my throat authoritatively. They paused their conversation and turned to look at me simultaneously. My mouth dropped into a little frown and I was all too aware that my hair and tie were still dripping water, but Minx subtly elbowed me into action.

"Uh, this is the broken printer isn't it?" I asked, pointing at the machine next to them. One of the ladies smiled at me and nodded.

"That's it, yeah." She said cheerfully. "I was wondering when they were going to get it replaced."

"Thank you." I said, grinning back at her before turning to Minx. "Could you go call maintenance and get them to send someone to get rid of the old printer?" She nodded and scampered off towards her desk. The three ladies were still looking at me, and I blushed under their combined stares. Trying to ignore them I took the boxes and bags of the top of the trolley and wrestled the printer box onto the carpet. After checking that the broken machine was unplugged – I was _not_ about to make that mistake in public again – I wiggled it away from the wall and put it on the trolley.

"Shouldn't you be like… making someone else do that?" One of the girls asked. "You're the boss now, right?"

"Yeah but… why inconvenience someone by making them do something that I'm perfectly capable of doing myself?" I replied, shrugging nonchalantly. The three women smiled down at me as I kneeled to get the new printer out of its box. "Though I may need a bit of help getting this set up." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head with a hand on my hip. The girls laughed shyly and my cheeks went pink again. Suddenly feeling very awkward and exposed I crossed my arms over my chest and bit the inside of my top lip, sort of trying to hide from the group of women. I'd only gotten the promotion to sales manager a few weeks ago, and I was still getting used to the fact that all of the people on this floor answered to me. It was an intimidating thought.

Just as the silence between the four of us started getting weird Minx appeared at my side, telling me that the maintenance guy was on his way and to just leave everything there for him. I stifled a sigh of relief and picked up the monitor, headset and bags up off the ground and nodded a farewell at the group of girls.

"Good timing?" Minx asked when we were out of earshot.

"Good timing." I confirmed.

Minx went back to her alcove outside my office – it was so weird having my own office – while I dropped off all the things people had asked me to pick up. When I gave Clara her headset she batted her mascaraed eyelashes at me, smiled a lip-gloss smile and asked me what I was doing on Friday night.

"I don't think I've got any plans." I shrugged, totally oblivious to the underlying question.

"Do you want to… maybe go to dinner or see a movie." She asked, her voice becoming quite sultry. Again, I was totally oblivious to it.

"Sure, sounds good." I said, my face lighting up. "Let's go to dinner. How does… seven sound?"

"Seven sounds perfect." She said, her face lighting up too. I flashed her a broad grin and went back to my office. I liked Clara. She was funny, intelligent and attractive and we'd always gotten on well. We'd always been pretty good friends; how was I supposed to know she wanted a little more than that?

"Heya, Minxy." I said in a singsong voice as I skipped past her desk.

"Never call me that again." She replied in a stern voice, not lifting her gaze from her computer screen. I pressed my lips together and tried not to smile.

"Sorry. Uh, if I get any…" I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Personal calls can you forward them to my cell?" Minx turned around at that, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"What sort of personal calls?" She asked cheekily.

"Nothing _important_!" I retorted defensively. "Just… you know, personal stuff." Minx gave me a snide grin but said she'd do as I asked.

I nodded decisively and went into my office, closing the glass door behind me. I meandered over to my desk and leaned against it, looking out through the glass interior walls at the office floor beyond. After a few minutes I picked up my name plate and ran my finger over the embossed letters. It felt so surreal being there in that office, everything personalised to my liking and sorted out in my particular fashion. I placed the name plate back on my desk, adjusting it until it was sitting just right, and sat down in my new, plush swivel chair. I was sure it the most comfortable thing I'd ever sat on at work. I relished in the cushiony goodness for a few moments before deciding it was probably time to get back to work. I pulled out some inventory files that one of the sales guys had given me and got stuck into my work.

**Pewdie's POV**

The rain pelted down upon my shoulders, the cold gnawing through my sopping clothes and into my bones, as the guy in the Mercedes got into his car and pulled out of the car park. My mouth was hanging open a little in shock, and I absently clenched my fist around the piece of paper he'd placed in my palm. He gave me a shy smile as he passed me and I tried to smile back, though I'm pretty sure I looked more frightened than happy. Suddenly a huge raindrop fell on my nose, jolting me out of my shock. I shivered, goosebumps coming up all over me, and ran back inside OfficeMax.

Calen gave me an irritated look as I walked through the automatic doors and shook my hair out a bit. He didn't say a word, simply pointing towards the stairs to the break room. I took a deep, calming breath and tried to keep my steps measured as I made my way to the employee lockers to find a towel. I found a pile of fresh ones in a supply closet and hastily scruffed my hair up with it. Calen would have a fit if I didn't get back to the register soon, but part of me didn't care. Fuck Calen. I took the towel off my head and looked at the little piece of paper I had scrunched up in my fist. The guy had written his cell phone number out in messy, kind of indecipherable script. In the top corner was a word… Ryem? No, Ry_an_.

His name was Ryan.

A smile spread across my face as my cheeks went red. _He gave me his number!_ I marvelled, unable to comprehend that someone that good looking and assumedly successful would give his number to a nondescript cashier at OfficeMax. My smile got bigger and bigger the more I thought about it until it made my cheeks start hurting. I couldn't help it though. I took a deep breath and threw the towel into a laundry hamper before returning to the cash register and Calen.

…

…

Calen told me that my pay should have gone through as I left work after my shift. My mood lifted as I walked to the supermarket a couple of blocks away at the prospect of tea and just food in general. I tried to shop wisely and conserve my budget. My mood dropped a little again when I had to pass up a lot of good food and such because I was so broke. I felt like a homeless person. I left the store with enough food to last me the week, plus stuff to make stir fry that night, and reluctantly started the long-ish walk home.

I practically fell through my front door – I _really_ needed to get it fixed – and went to the kitchen to unpack my groceries. Vegetables, milk, orange juice, cheese, beer and meat in the fridge. Baked beans, potatoes, bread, peanut butter, breakfast muffins and jam in the pantry. I put the fruit in the bowl on the bench and threw the shopping bags away.

At a loss for what to do I slumped into my recliner chair and flicked through the channels on TV. The corner of my mouth turned up a little when I found a few episodes of Adventure Time starting. I laughed at Finn and Jake's capers until my stomach starting yelling out for sustenance. I sliced up strips of beef and carrots and broccoli and capsicum and chilli and threw it into my dodgy old wok with some bean sprouts and chickpeas. As it all fried up I added some sweet and sour stir fry sauce I'd bought at the store, and soon the delicious smell of stir fry was floating through my house.

I decided to sit at the kitchen table to eat, might as well get some use out of it. I commended myself on my cooking skills at I practically inhaled my meal. I had to admit, I was good.

After my dinner I did the dishes and then sat back down in my recliner to continue watching Adventure Time, pouting in annoyance when I realised it was over. I sighed at the impending boredom I saw coming my way. After a moment's deliberation I turned the TV off and went into my room to boot up my computer. Once it was running I donned my headphones to play some Amnesia custom stories.

…

…

"Oh, yeah work it babeh. Look at these moves, yeah. You know you want me, Pewdie." Piggeh said seductively as he swirled across the screen.

"Piggeh, I- I… no, I don't want to do that." I said.

"Oh come on. You know you want to." He said, still twirling about. "Just kiss me Pewdie."

"No, god damn it Piggeh!" I shouted while simultaneously throwing him across the room. I laughed at myself and ran out of the little room, raising my lantern to light up the dark corridor. "Stupid assho- _OH SHIT!_" I squealed, rounding a corner to see a grey body fly into my face. "Teleporting _naked guys! _I hate teleporting naked guys!" I grumbled, running away from the grey body slumped on the floor. I'd been running around this custom map for an hour or so now, and I was getting more and more frustrated by the second; there were next to no hints and you had to pull apart literally everything to find anything. I pulled the last few books down from a bookshelf and the last one on the shelf pulled back barely halfway, and the screen flashed blue. My face dropped into a look of barely contained rage and I made my way to the door I thought the lever opened. I was cursing under my breath as I walked along. Fucking custom maps. I had high hopes for the next area as the loading screen popped up. I went down a flight of stairs when the game loaded and found myself in a large stone hall. I looked around at the bookshelves and tables lining the large room, raising my lantern again to see properly. Something gold glinted in the corner of the screen and I ran over to find Stephano waiting on a shelf. I gasped in excitement and picked him up.

"Pewdie, what took you so long? I've been sitting here for _hours_!" Stephano said in his French accent.

"I'm sorry, I came as fast as I could!"

"That's not good enough, you stupid asshole. Let's go. It's this way." Stephano pointed to the left and I took off across the hall, lantern raised. I got about halfway across the hall when suddenly that crazy ringing sound started up and the bro burst out of a doorway and came at me, claws ready to maul. I screamed and ran in the opposite direction, yelling at Stephano as I did so.

"Stephano, you asshole! Why did you tell me to go that way?!" I cried.

"I am sorry, Pewdie. My sense of direction isn't very good… Don't look behind you."

"Wha- why? He can't be that clo- _AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" _I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran for the door I'd entered through. I gasped in horror upon discovering it was now locked, and I turned around to run back and came face to face with the bro. I jumped hard, throwing my knees up to smash into my desk, almost knocking the monitor over. The screen went red and then black as I died, and the familiar words _you must carry on… _appeared on my monitor.

"I don't wanna." I whimpered quietly. I took a deep breath and closed the game down; I'd play some more tomorrow… I sat at my desk for a little bit, not really doing anything but stare at my black computer screen. After a while my mind turned to Ryan. I got up and wandered to the kitchen to find the crumpled piece of paper on the bench. I rested my elbows on the bench top and gazed at the little piece of paper, biting my lip softly. Was it too soon to call him? I glanced at my phone and saw that it was almost 11pm. Was it too _late_ to call him tonight? I sighed and pondered my predicament for a few minutes.

"Fuck it, I'll call. What's the worst that could happen?" I muttered to myself, unlocking my phone and copying in Ryan's number. My stomach was assaulted by butterflies as the dial tone sounded and the phone started ringing. It was so bad that I kind of felt sick with nerves… I was so focused on keeping my stomach under control that I was taken by surprise when he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" He asked, his voice crackling slightly through the phone speaker.

"Uh, hi! Ryan?" I stammered, trying to sound prepared. I heard him chuckle quietly and my cheeks went red.

"Yeah, that's me." He said cheerfully. "May I ask who's speaking?"

"Sorry, er it's Felix from OfficeMax." I winced at the name of that horrid place.

"Oh! Hey, Felix! I'm sorry I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon." Fuck…

"Yeah, I- well I figured now is as good a time as ever." I cringed and mouthed 'what' at myself with a horrified expression. _Stop being a fucking retard! Be normal! _I internally screamed. Ryan just laughed off my weirdness and social ineptitude and agreed.

"Hey I actually wanted to ask you earlier…" Ryan began, trailing off a bit and clearing his throat. "Do you want to… I don't know…"

"Go for coffee… or you know, something…?"

"Yeah." He chuckled again and the butterflies tripled their manpower and attacked my stomach again. "Is tomorrow okay for you?"

"Yea- uh wait no, I'm working." I said, pulling a face. "How about Saturday?"

"Sounds good!" Ryan said enthusiastically. "I'll text you tomorrow or something and we'll figure out where we'll go, yeah? I'm so tired right now that my brain's ceasing to function."

"I know how that feels." I laughed. Ryan laughed too and then we fell into a slightly awkward silence. This was why I hate calling people. "So uh… I guess I should let you go to bed or whatever." I said nervously.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ryan replied, sounding equally tongue-tied. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yep. Cya, Ryan."

"Bye, Felix." The phone beeped as he hung up. I slowly pressed the end button on my own phone and let it rest against my lips as a huge smile formed on my face. Suddenly my whole body twitched with excitement and I couldn't stay still any longer; I felt like dancing or running or… something! Instead I did a little fist pump of victory.

Deciding I should head to bed myself, I went into my room to strip off my shirt and change into some shorts before slipping between my sheets. I snuggled up in the thick, fluffy duvet and drifted off thinking about Ryan and how our date on Saturday would play out.


End file.
